Philippines - Filthy and stoned

HELP City Mission/Father's House Manila
During one of our outreaches we met MariVic. She staggered towards us completely filthy and stoned, the glue still sticking to her nose. When she came closer I finally realized that she was a little girl. A bunch of older guys stumbled after her, mocking her. We started to talk and invited the whole group of fifteen kids, all full of lice and very filthy, to dinner at McDonalds.



After talking to the manager, we were finally allowed to take the whole group inside to sit at a table in a remote corner. They were as pleased as Punch, since they haven’t had anything to eat yet. It didn’t take long to discover that MariVic was an orphan trying to eke out a living on the streets. I invited her to come and stay with us in the Father’s House. She came with us without thinking twice. Since she didn’t know what to expect, she looked about scared.

The only thing she knew was a life on the streets, so she preferred to sleep in a corner on the floor for the first night. The bed with fresh linen in the girl’s room was just too odd:-). Meanwhile she feels at ease and we are happy to have her as a new member in our Father’s House family. Right now we have space for 24 kids and youngsters and have only little room left.
Petra Erkens